


Why we fight

by myrish_lace



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:24:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9089377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myrish_lace/pseuds/myrish_lace
Summary: Cassian and Jyn learn, at the moment of their death, that their mission succeeded, and Princess Leia welcomes them home. -For Carrie Fisher. R.I.P.





	

  
Cassian’s still reeling from pulling Jyn away from Krennic, keeping hold of her leather jacket as he talks her down, the pain in his side a sharp stab and a dull ache. His shirt sticks to his skin, blood welling between his fingers. He clawed up the metal rungs to save Jyn’s life, but she’s carrying him now, and he slumps against her as they inch towards the elevator.

Cassian joined and fought for a rebellion based on hope, he’s told Jyn as much, but there’s a well of pessimism inside him. He doubts his own actions, wonders whether in the end they'll succeed. Jyn’s calmed his fears, but with both of them wounded, he worries again. They’ve pulled a lever, sent a signal, but did Bodhi get the message out in time? Does that blue barrier still stand between them and the rebel fleet? Will the Stardust file, holding the seed of the Empire’s destruction, bounce and scatter across the shield, devolving into nothing but noise?

He asks Jyn if she believes anyone’s listening. She smiles at him, a smile he could learn to love if they had the time. “Someone’s out there,” she tells him, and he thinks she’s trying to convince herself it’s true.

When they stumble to the beach, they're confronted with certainty. They will die here. The yellow mushroom cloud is beautiful, muted like the dawn. He tells Jyn her father would have been proud of her. They embrace as the light and heat rush to meet them, and Cassian glances away from the blast at the last second, an impulse he can’t stop, a fear he can’t control.

***

They’re floating in a void, weightless. A woman’s voice, deep and resonant with authority, speaks kindly. “Cassian Andor. Jyn Erso. Your plans, your signal, got through. The Death Star was destroyed, the Empire defeated. Rest, here, now. The Force is with you.” Cassian sees a woman who is a princess and a general, royalty and a rebel. She is at peace herself, and Cassian lets that peace overtake him, as he and Jyn dissolve a second time in brilliant white light.


End file.
